Family killed, burnt on pyre
- Assam cops suspect murder of three could be fallout of differences with locals

A STAFF REPORTER

The charred remains of the family that were recovered from the courtyard of a house at Borbali Bebhejia village in Golaghat district and (above) the Assam Training English School which was run by Jimmy Brown Borgohain. Telegraph pictures

Jorhat, Dec. 19: Three members of a family were allegedly killed and their bodies burnt at a remote village under Sarupathar police station in Golaghat district last night.

The bodies of Jimmy Brown Borgohain, 35, his wife Mandeep, 30, and their 11-year-old daughter Rose were recovered from the courtyard of the house, on a pyre of hay this morning.

Police said Rose, who stays with her grandmother at Basistha in Guwahati, had arrived at her parents’ house only about a week back. Borgohain has another daughter who also stays with her grandmother.

The family runs a private school, Assam Training English School, at Borbali Bebhejia village, located about 12km from Sarupathar, the sub-divisional headquarters of Dhansiri in Golaghat district.

“All the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. The three were first killed and burnt on a pyre of hay built in the courtyard of the house. The remains recovered from the ash have been sent for post-mortem,” Bipul Kr Das, extra assistant commissioner of Sarupathar, who visited the site, told The Telegraph over phone.

Arun Saikia, a resident, said the incident came to light this morning when a local youth, Bonga, 20, went to Borgohain’s house. “Bonga is a close aide of Borgohain and used to help him in running the school and selling mobile recharge cards. He is a regular visitor to Borgohain’s house,” he said.

Saikia said Bonga immediately informed the matter to the secretary of the village defence party, Kesho Boro, who called the police.

The police said that Borgohain, who originally hails from Sadiya in Tinsukia district, had settled in the village about four years back and started the school, which has classes up to IV with about 13 students. His maternal house is in the village. “Borgohain also sold mobile phone recharge cards for additional income,” the police said.

The police said it could not be established who was behind the brutal killing but claimed it was not the handiwork of an individual but a group of people. “Since there is no house within a 300-metre radius of the school-cum-residence of the Borgohains, nobody claimed to have heard anything last night,” a police officer at Sarupathar said over phone.

The police, however, said that Borgohain’s relation with the villagers, who are mostly Christians, was not good and there were reports of squabbles between him and a few locals a month back.

Sources said that Borgohain had tried to marry a minor girl about a couple of years back and developed bad blood with a few villagers. “He was private tutor to the girl whom he tried to marry by putting vermilion on her forehead and this angered the villagers. A complaint was also lodged at the police station,” a local resident said.

Golaghat deputy commissioner Sanjib Gohain Boruah said he has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and asked the Sarupathar sub-divisional officer (civil) D. Borah to conduct the probe.